To a stirred solution of methyl 4-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzoate (238 mg, 1.0 mmol) and bis(tri-t-butylphosphine)palladium (0) (51 mg, 0.10 mmol) in THF (2 mL) was added (cyclohexylmethyl)zinc(II) bromide (6 mL, 3.00 mmol) at room temperature. The reaction mixture was heated at reflux for 2 h, quenched with saturated NaHCO3 solution, and filtered through Celite®. The filtrate was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organics were dried and concentrated, and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography to give the title compound (280 mg) as a colorless oil. LCMS m/z=301.4. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ ppm 0.96-1.06 (m, 2H), 1.14-1.22 (m, 3H), 1.62-1.72 (m, 6H), 2.71 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 7.39 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.10 (dd, J=8.0, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.30 (d, J=1.4 Hz, 1H).
